SOUTH VIET NAM: Bao Bows Out

Through Saigon's streets rolled a
float depicting a swinish Emperor Bao Dai swilling cognac with one
hand, clutching a nude blonde with the other, while an overbearing
French rascal stuffed the royal pockets with gold. The question before
the people in South Viet Nam's first free national election was in
effect a choice between Premier Ngo Dinh Diem as their head of state or
Bao Dai, their absentee playboy sovereign.

So put, there could be little doubt of the answer. Diem's supporters,
exuberantly forecasting a 99-to-1 victory for their

Premier, were dismayed at Western observers for suggesting that a less
lopsided...